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Facebook is under CRIMINAL investigation over its data sharing deals with tech firms including Apple and Amazon after the information was accessed without any users’ consent

Thursday, March 14, 2019

By Paul Martin

Facebook is being investigated for allegedly sharing its users’ data with dozens of tech companies without their knowledge
A New York grand jury has subpoenaed records from two smartphone makers involved in the partnerships
Data was shared without users’ knowledge and included genders and birth dates
Facebook has phased out most of the partnerships over the past two years

Facebook is being investigated for allegedly sharing its users’ data with dozens of tech companies without their knowledge.

Prosecutors are conducting a criminal investigation into data deals struck by the social media giant with some of the world’s largest technology companies amid intense scrutiny of the firm in recent years.

A New York grand jury has subpoenaed records from two smartphone makers involved in the partnerships, anonymous sources told The New York Times.

It is understood that data shared without users’ knowledge included friends’ names, genders and birth dates.

Facebook claimed in June that it provided dozens of tech companies with special access to user data after publicly saying it restricted such access in 2015.

The New York Times reported that Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and Sony, cut data sharing deals with the world’s dominant social media platform.

However, Facebook continued sharing information with 61 hardware and software makers after it said it discontinued the practice in May 2015.

The agreements let the companies see users’ friends, contact information and other data, sometimes without consent.

Facebook has phased out most of the partnerships over the past two years.

A spokesman for the social network said: ‘We are cooperating with investigators and take those probes seriously.

‘We’ve provided public testimony, answered questions and pledged that we will continue to do so.’

It is not known when the grand jury inquiry, overseen by prosecutors with the United States attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York, began or exactly what it is focusing on.

Facebook is facing a slew of lawsuits and regulatory inquiries over its privacy practices, including ongoing investigations by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission and two state agencies in New York.

In addition to looking at the data deals, the probes focus on disclosures that the company shared the user data of 87 million people with Cambridge Analytica, a British consulting firm that worked with U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign.

Since then, Facebook CEO Marc Zuckerberg has testified in front of Congress and the European Parliament to answer questions about Facebook’s handling of user data.

In April Zuckerberg took questions for nearly five hours in a Senate hearing without making any further promises to support new legislation or change how the social network does business, foiling attempts by senators to pin him down.